Monday, January 9, 2017

Favorite Books of 2016

Every year I help compile a list of genre-focused art books for Locus magazine's annual "recommended reading" feature for their February issue. Naturally, not all of my suggestions make the final published list; there's only so much room, after all, and the opinions of other contributors, as well as those of the Locus editors, ultimately are part of the decision process. With that in mind, I thought, as a book junky, I'd share my personal list of notable titles that appeared in 2016. There's no order of preference, no groupings based on criteria beyond the simple fact that I liked it. As mentioned in the publisher credits, some were self-produced (often as Kickstarter projects) and might not be widely available so I've included links for shoppers.

The Art of Magic: The Gathering — Zendikaredited by James Wyatt (Perfect Square). There were two additional MtG art books published in '16 as well with another scheduled for early 2017 release.Naturally, this isn't some sort of completist's survey; there were plenty of other genre art books, illustrated novels and collections, art-of movie concept art compilations, how-to, and sketchbooks published last year, both good and...not so good (which I've delicately not mentioned)...but these are the ones that stood out for me. Just as there were any number of noteworthy non-genre books, like William Merritt Chase: A Modern Master (Yale University Press), Valentin de Boulogne: Beyond Caravaggio (Metropolitan Museum of Art), or John Singer Sargent and the Art of Allusion (Yale University Press) that, if included, would easily make this post much longer than it already is. I've also studiously avoided mentioning the (now-fading) 2015/2016 fad of "adult coloring books," not because I'm not extremely happy for every artist who was able to profit from it (I am), but simply because I thought the whole thing was kinda...silly. But that's just me.I will conclude by saying that the audience for art books of any type tends to be rarified and retailers are extremely picky in what they stock and what they don't. If you want to see more genre art books, purchase them (if you can afford them) or check them out from your library and encourage your friends to do likewise. Share them. Talk about them. Help grow the appreciation for our field. Interest often translates into sales and sales (or lack of same) dictate availability and selection.If I've overlooked your favorite from 2016, please feel free to chime in.

If you can find it, The Fabulous Art of Trudvang is a mind-blowing collection of illustrations from Riotminds' fantasy game setting, featuring Paul Bonner, Alvaro Tapia, Justin Sweet and more. This was a Kickstarter, but there are still possibly some copies of this swedish-language, boxed volume floating around out there.

Sciencefictionbokhandeln may be able to provide it: http://www.sfbok.se/produkt/the-fabulous-art-of-trudvang-159954They stock both of Egerkrans' books, as well, and are generally great folks.

Great List. That Star wars McQuairre book is amazing, and was an immediate purchase. I know this is more a sci fi list ,but you did mention a few fine artists at the end. So if you are looking for a good Degas book I highly recommend the new book on his monotypes Edgar Degas: A Strange New Beauty